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PHOBIA LIBRARY

Read up on fear, panic and phobia to get a general overview of phobias and trauma and fear management. Learn mindfulness based self care principles and exercises for managing phobias from my books on trauma and self care.
JUMP TO A CHAPTER
​ Fear | Function | Thought | Treatment | Coping
For Help See: Fear in the Brain | Fear Dictionary
THE LIBRARY TOPIC HOME PAGES
​​Introduction to Trauma, Fear and Phobia
Part 1: ​Defining Fear and the Fear Response
Part 2: Emotional & Cognitive Functions of Fear
Part 3: Maladaptive Thought Processing
​Part 4: Professional Therapy & Mindful Self Care
​THE PHOBIA COLLECTION DOWNLOADS
​Browse Collection of Phobias by Topic
Download Collection of Phobias
Download Dictionary of Fear and Phobia
Download Self Care Guides for Coping

PART TWO - FUNCTIONS
​​BRAIN FUNCTIONS OF FEAR
MEMORY & EMOTION
​ Articles defining the structure and characteristics of the emotional center (emotions, feelings, stressors, triggers) and the memory functions that affect fear, phobia, anxiety and panic

BRAIN FUNCTIONS DIRECTORY

Function of Memory Functions of Emotions and Feelings ​
Download the Dictionary of the Mind and Brain for help on the terms in this section

See Also
Structural Functions of the Brain
Neuroplasticity (Rewiring Your Brain)

RELATED SELF CARE GUIDES BY KAIROS
​View All Downloads​
​Phobia Home | Library Home | Topic Home
ALL CONTENT PROVIDED BY MY BOOKS ON MINDFUL SELF CARE FOR TRAUMA AND FEAR
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FEELING THE FEELINGS
​AFFECTING FEAR
WHY THEY DIFFER FROM EMOTIONS


​FEELINGS ARE SUBJECTIVE
In psychology, feelings are the subjective experience of emotion. Perception of the physical world does not necessarily result in a universal reaction among people. This makes this perception or feeling subjective.

Subjectivity is that which influences, informs, and biases people's judgments about truth or reality; it is the collection of the perceptions, experiences, expectations, and personal or cultural understanding of, and beliefs about, something specific to you. Subjectivity is contrasted objectivity, which is described as a view of truth or reality that is free of any individual's biases, interpretations, feelings, and imaginings.

Emotions come before feelings and they are physical and instinctual. They can be objectively measured by factors like blood flow, brain activity, facial expressions, and body language because they’re physical or biological. Feelings, on the other hand, cannot. We cannot measure anything about a feeling. Emotions are physical. Feelings are all mental. Emotions can be conceptualized in one of three main ways: as experiences, as evaluations, and as motivations.

​Feelings can’t be controlled. But they can be managed.
Feelings happen after an emotion, they involve cognitive input from the subconscious and cannot be measured.
  • Emotions are physical states arising from your body’s responses to external influence and stimuli.
  • Feelings are interpretations your brain makes of your emotions.

Feelings originate in the neocortical regions of your brain and are subjective mental associations and reactions to emotions. Feelings are sparked by emotions and are shaped by experiences, beliefs, memories, and thoughts linked to that particular emotion. A feeling is a mental picture of what is happening in your body when you have an emotional reaction. It is a composition of your brain’s perception of an emotion and its assignment of meaning.

​Feelings are the conscious experience of emotional reactions. They are a byproduct of your brain perceiving an emotion and then assigning a certain meaning to it. Sometimes the meaning is clear and sometimes not.

Feelings don't come in neat little boxes. They don’t have names until they are defined and sometimes we can’t define what we can’t adequately capture nor can we even understand. If something is so powerful that you can't even describe it, it’s called ineffable. Ineffable means ideas and feelings that are difficult to put into words.

Parents might feel an ineffable combination of sadness, elation, grief and pride when watching their youngest child graduate from high school. This is a menagerie of emotions and feelings and there may or may not be a word to describe it. But through communication with other parents, they can feel better knowing they are not the only ones with this complexity of feelings. Read on for a more complex blend of emotions and feelings.

EXAMPLE FLOW OF EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS
​
EVENT: The calendar shows you that today is the day your father died last year.​
  • The responding emotion is grief. Maybe you have been in denial so you are surprised at the date and maybe even shocked from the amount of time that has passed.
  • This emotional response activates the physical response. Tears well up. Increased breathing and pulse kicks it up.
  • Sadness is the resulting feeling. You feel his loss.
  • Maybe you become overwhelmed. It could make you confused or anxious. This may release adrenaline. Your mind starts racing.
  • And then you see a picture of the two of you.
  • Memories are triggered and you start to feel nostalgia. Nostalgia is subjective and it needs your memories in order to manifest.
  • Nostalgia calms you with a flow of cortisol from the amygdala.
  • And you feel the surge of another response, the emotion of love. You feel love for your dad. This activates oxytocin, the hormone manifested by love and bonding.
  • The physical response stops the tears and returns your breathing back to normal. You feel calm again.
  • Maybe you feel empowered to do something to honor him. You start thinking. This triggers dopamine and drives focus and motivation.
  • These feelings and the hormones can help remind you that you had a great dad and so you feel lucky.
  • There is a shift in your mood and you feel more positive and content.
  • This eases the emotion of grief and you feel relieved you didn’t break down. Maybe an ounce of pride in yourself for staying strong and avoiding panic.
  • This brings on a physical response of action. And you feel determined. You feel more energetic from sparks of endorphins.
  • Motivation gets you out of bed. And maybe at breakfast your sullen teenager gives you a rare smile to drive up a cheerful feeling and you have hope. For whatever the day brings.

Feelings are not logical. Do not rationalize them. They are not controllable. Manage them.
They are hard to define, to understand or to express.
Sometimes they make no sense.
Don’t try. Just feel them.
Then let them go.
​Mindfulness can help you.

​Feelings are known as a state of consciousness resulting from emotions, sentiments or desires. Feelings are felt, they are abstract in nature and they cannot be touched. Inner feelings can only be suppressed in order to achieve the expression one wants people to see on the outside.

Feelings are the conductors of your crazy train. They are generated by emotions and influenced by thoughts, memories, and beliefs that have been subconsciously linked to a particular emotion for you. It works the other way around too. For example, just remembering a traumatic moment or thinking about a threat can trigger an emotional response in your body like fear. While individual emotions are temporary, the feelings they evoke can persist and grow over time. They are progressive. They contribute to ongoing conditions like depression or anxiety.

Because emotions influence subconscious feelings to initiate even more thoughts, your life can become a never-ending cycle of painful and confusing emotions which. produce more negative feelings. It’s a feedback loop and if the cycle is not broken it continues. You can end up anxious or scared all the time. Your amygdala is to blame for this.

Feelings are determined to be appropriate if they fit the current situation. People want to fit in and be seen as “normal”, so we are constantly working on our feelings in order to fit in. Emotion work is more so how we want to feel or how we want other people to see us feel. Feelings are not permanent, but rather they are an ongoing thing. People constantly try to bring up, suppress, or manage feelings.

Imagine you are a witness to a horrible event and your safety is threatened. You will trigger the emotion of fear. Your body experiences this emotion with panic driven breathing, a racing heart and sweaty palms. If you see injury or a death from the event and you can feel horror or disgust.
  • The threat is the stimulus (event)
  • The fear is the emotion
  • The physical symptoms are the response
  • The horror is the feeling that comes from your interpretation of the event.

SUMMING UP FEELINGS
Feelings are best understood as a representation of emotions, private to the individual experiencing them. Feelings are also known as a state of consciousness, resulting from emotions, sentiments or desires. Feelings are only felt and are abstract in nature. They cannot be touched. Feelings don’t provide deep wisdom, detailed plans, or the ability to know the future. Our thoughts have a profound impact on our feelings; our feelings affect the way we behave; and our behavior is responsible for our results. Feelings are simply nudges or urges. That’s it.

COMMON MYTHS


Myth #1: Having strong feelings means I am out of control.
The emotions don’t make you lose control. The actions you take in response to them do. Let yourself feel the emotions and just watch your actions to make sure you respond appropriately.

Myth #2: Other people know better than I do what I feel.
Think about this rationally. How can this be true? Only you know yourself as profoundly as you do. Nobody can say they know you better. If you’ve been invalidated often, you may think it is easier to look to others to tell you what you feel. Try to resist this. You are giving control to someone else over what you think and feel. Seems irrational right?

Myth #3: If I start crying, I will never stop.
Avoiding sadness doesn’t make it go away. It’s still there in the background. Crying is a healthy release of emotional pain. Let yourself release the pain and maybe your sadness will lift. You may see clearly if the tears are not ready to flood the dam.

Myth #4: I am my feelings .
You are much more than your feelings, even if you are highly emotional or sensitive. Our feelings are always fluctuating. It’s not uncommon to feel more than one at a time. Often, these differing feelings fuse together.

​For example, you might feel angry and sad at the same time over the same thing. As you move between feelings it can be difficult to pin one down. This results in a feeling of constant wavering, being uncertain of who you really are.
MORE ON BRAIN FUNCTIONS
This content is provided for informational purposes only. Author is not a medical professional. Talk to your doctor to determine what therapy is right for you.
Self care techniques are meant to supplement professional treatment not replace it.
DISCLAIMER OF THE LEARNING LIBRARY

BROWSE PHOBIA COLLECTION​
​Phobia collection is presented in eight themed parts
​VIEW LIST INDEX or ​JUMP TO A PART
PART [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ]

PHOBIA COLLECTION BY TOPIC​
common ~ abstract ~ ordinary ~ bizarre ~ catastrophic ~ psyche ~ icky - academic ~ knowledge ~ education ~ literary ~ art ~ music ~ religion ~ political ~ law ~ order military ~ war ~ discrimination ~ science ~ chemical ~ energy ~ time ~ numbers ~ technology ~ nature ~ environment ~ astronomy ~ weather ~ geography ~ people ~ family ~ community ~ anatomy ~ medical ~ disease ~ emotions ~ senses ~ sensations ~ movement ~ conditions~ love ~ relationships ~ sexuality ~ lifestyle ~ places ~ events ~ objects ~ clothing ~ tools ~ vehicles ~ home ~ cooking ~ food ~ entertainment ~ sports ~ recreation ~ toys ~ games ~ monsters ~ characters ~ spooky ~ nightmares ~ delusional ~ joke ~ fiction

​DOWNLOAD PONDERING THE PHOBIA
​Now Available for​ Download for Offline Reading
All the phobias in one download. Browse by both topic/subject and by alphabetized list
Download/Share: http://bit.ly/ponderingphobia

​OTHER PHOBIA AND FEAR DOWNLOADS:
​Dictionary of Trauma, Phobia and Fear
Self Care Guides for Fear & Phobias​
Phobia articles provided by my self care series Healing the PTSD Mind ​ and my series on mindfulness based self care Be Mindful Be Well​. These self directed guides are written from a trauma perspective but the content applies to the symptoms of phobia like fear and panic. ​Learn and simple self care techniques with mindfulness.
BE MINDFUL. BE WELL. TRY MINDFULNESS​.
​
​DOWNLOAD SELF CARE GUIDES FOR FREE
​Books copyright 2021 by By Kairos
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